Tonight's edition of ShoBox: The New Generation lost its original main event, meant to feature Omar Henry who pulled out with an injury, but still has some solid fights and now, some story behind one of them.
The co-feature bout tonight in Hollandale Beach, Florida, will pit Joey Hernandez (156 lbs) against James Winchester (155¾) in a ten-round catchweight bout. Both made weight fine, but then a scuffle broke out between the fighters, so if they come out swinging tonight, you'll know why. Of course, they might come out normal, as boxers often do after these weigh-in scraps, and it won't have meant much, but hey, there's something anyway.
Hernandez (22-1-1, 13 KO) fights out of Miami, and his one loss was a KO-2 defeat against Ed Paredes in February 2010. He also had fought Paredes to a ten-round draw in August 2009, and since the loss, has beaten veterans Angel Hernandez and Saul Duran.
Winchester (15-5, 5 KO) you might possibly recall from his fight against Michael Medina deep on the Chavez Jr-Martinez undercard in September. Medina beat him up pretty bad, but Winchester went the full eight rounds, and has never been stopped. He's limited, but a durable, tough fighter. He also has past losses to Glen Tapia and the great disappearing prospect now known only as "Korobov," and you have to say it the way that they say, "Esteban" in those guitar infomercials.
The main event tonight will be a lightweight 10-round bout between Angelo Santana (136¾) and Johnny Garcia (133¾). Santana was overweight, but the fight will go on. Santana (13-0, 10 KO) is a solid, 24-year-old Cuban southpaw who hasn't had the hype of some of the other recent Cuban imports (and by "recent," I mean dating back to when Yuriorkis Gamboa and the like defected to turn pro), but that might not be the worst thing in the world. He came into the pro game young and could still be molded somewhat.
Garcia (13-0, 8 KO) was supposed to be a light snack for another Cuban, Yordenis Ugas, on ShoBox back in March, and instead pulled an upset decision win. It was debatable whether or not Garcia really deserved the win, but almost nobody cared, because Ugas is lethally dull and Garcia was the one making the fight happen at all.
Tonight's ShoBox goes live on Showtime at 11 pm EST, and we'll be here with live coverage. - Scott Christ